Please note: This course has been moved from Wednesday morning to Tuesday morning. And the venue has also been changed. All information below is correct.

This course examines the greatest theft of art and cultural valuables in history and its continuing impact today. From 1933 to 1945, the Nazis confiscated more than half a million objects of art. Although the western Allies refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of these confiscations, many heirs of Nazi victims are still trying to recover their ancestors’ art. Using films, Power Point presentations and class discussions, the class begins by exploring the history of looting art during times of conflict, from the Romans through Napoleon. Then we focus on Hitler’s views on art, the development of the Nazi aesthetic, and confiscations from German museums and private collections in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France. We’ll consider the role of the “Monuments Men” after the Allied invasion of Europe, the discovery of Nazi caches of art, and initial attempts to restitute such art. Finally, we examine legal restitution efforts after the war, more recently, and currently. Our instructor taught art law at Harvard Law School until his retirement in 2008, taught a seminar on art law at the University of Texas Law School upon his subsequent move to Austin, and taught several summer art law seminars in Freiberg, Germany. Limit 30.

Terry Martin
10:00—Noon Wednesday, Starts Feb. 18
Triumphant Love Lutheran Church, Upper Room
9508 Great Hills Trail (78759)